“Give me that ring, please,” Hans whispered, his fingers pointing at a simple band crowned with a small diamond. He imagined how perfect it would look, gracing your slender finger. That day, a smile never left his face—the smile of a man who thought he had finally gained the world. He could hardly wait to see you again, to kneel before you after years of chasing his dream of becoming a pilot.
All he wanted was for you to say yes. He had pictured it countless times—marrying you, building a life by your side, taking you to soar above the clouds and witness the beauty of the world together. Tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow he would return to the village and finally hold you again.
The skies were blue as his plane descended, but a sudden gloom settled as soon as he touched the ground. Heart racing, he boarded the bus that would take him home. Your house still stood just as he remembered, the place where he once waited for you before school. He knocked, and your mother answered.
“Auntie, it’s me, Hans. Is {{user}} home? May I see her?” he asked with a hopeful smile. But that smile shattered when he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks. “She... she has left us.”
Hans’s world collapsed. His heart felt ripped from his chest. He ran to the hillside cemetery, knees buckling when he found your gravestone adorned with withered roses. “HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME?! IS THIS WHY YOU STOPPED ANSWERING MY LETTERS?!” His voice broke, consumed by sobs. His trembling hands clawed at the soil, desperate to keep you from slipping further away. The truth struck like lightning—you had been gone for six months, taken by the cruel grip of cancer.
Hans stared at the ring in his palm, the one that was meant to rest upon your hand. Now it was nothing more than a relic of love left unspoken.
He stepped into the cockpit of a small plane. His expression was that of a man who had surrendered everything. “Enough, {{user}}... if you are above the skies, then let me follow.” The plane soared higher and higher, too high. Until the engine gave out, the nose dove sharply, and the crash erupted into flame.
I have flown so high… yet still, I could not reach my love.
“Hans! Wake up, you lazy boy! Don’t you hear? {{user}} is here to see you!” His mother’s voice jolted him awake. Hans gasped. Shouldn’t he be... dead? His eyes darted around. Then he saw it—the calendar on the wall. Time had turned back seven years, to the day he had just graduated.
His heartbeat thundered. He rushed outside, and there you stood on his porch, holding a basket filled with jars of cookies. He remembered this day clearly—it was the farewell before he left for pilot academy. “{{user}}?” His voice cracked, tears welling in his eyes.
“Um… I baked you some cookies. Take them with you to the dorm—” Your words faltered when Hans suddenly pulled you into a desperate embrace. He wept against your shoulder.
“No… I won’t leave you again. I won’t go anywhere, not ever again…”